445th Maintenance Group conducts mega training

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Robert Nelson
  • 445th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  The 445th Maintenance Group conducted mega training during the February unit training assemblies to reduce the amount of Airmen are away from their jobs while providing them with the necessary training that the Air Force requires. The training was in separate locations for each UTA.

Senior Master Sgt. Timothy Emberton, non-commissioned officer in charge of training, explained how the mass training schedule has an overall effect on the entire year.

"Once all members are trained in the basic fundamentals the Air Force requires, Airmen can then focus on their individual job the rest of the year," he said.

This leaves less time for flights to worry about who has and who has not completed annual training. With a limited number of computers, this can leave a giant gap in training when considering the unit has more than 500 personnel. The mega training eliminates that problem.

Capt. Nathan Garcia, maintenance group executive officer, echoed what Sergeant Emberton stated along with what lessons they learned from the previous year.

"The mega weekend gives better training, more training in what matters and briefers were not using unnecessary time instructing," Captain Garcia said.

Tech. Sgt. Mike Parshall, 445th Maintenance Squadron, conducted the force protection CBT portion. The unique aspect of this CBT was the interjection of knowledge, experiences, and facts from down range that Sergeant Parshall shared with more than 180 of his fellow Airmen. This made the CBT portion of the training realistic and personal, and shared new and relevant information.

While this class was being held, in the hangar next door, a similar class was being provided to another 150 maintenance Airmen.

Not only was the training improved, but the overall organization of the potentially hectic weekend was streamlined. "Keep it simple," Sergeant Emberton said. "The class changed gears after the morning session of computer based training and moved to flight level training."